GIBSON INDEX NEWSLETTER - SEPTEMBER 2009
HEADLINE NEWS
Hydrogen and Fuel Cell funding call from Tech Strategy Board opens September
A competition for up to £7.2 million of funding for companies to develop Hydrogen and Fuel Cell technology has begun. The competition is being funded by the Department of Energy and is part of measures for stimulating low carbon technologies announced in this year’s budget.
Companies will be able to bid to the Technology Strategy Board, which will manage the programme, for a share of the cash to develop and test the technology. Hydrogen and Fuel Cells have the potential to help cut carbon emissions because they only emit water and heat as by products. The energy conversion in fuel cells is more efficient than those of other technologies such as the internal combustion engine.
The Technology Strategy Board’s total value of low carbon energy projects is around £127m, including contributions from other funders.
The target markets that the programme aims to support are transport and stationary power generation.
Expansion of the Carbon Trust’s business incubation scheme hits the road
A £1.75m UK government fund to expand the Carbon Trust’s business incubation scheme aims at growing a new generation of UK companies specialising in the development of environmentally friendly technology.
The Carbon Trust is currently looking for 25 new joiners to the scheme over the coming year with up to £70,000 of support on offer to each. The funds will cover strategic and business development consultancy, advice on corporate finance, management team recruitment and mentoring, product development, market research and engagement and guidance on intellectual-property protection.
The Carbon Trust claims that incubatee companies typically attract ‘around £16 of private funding for every £1 spent on incubation services’.In confidence, one energy technology MD said “It is clear to us [SME community] that the Carbon Trust has failed to back any important energy innovation to date.”
Recent research from the Department for Businessshows that business leaders expect clean technology to be the UK’s highest growth sector in the coming years. The Carbon Trust believes that additional funding will play a crucial role in making this happen.
The approximately 90 companies incubated by the Carbon Trust scheme so far have raised around £86m in private funding.
According to the organisation, the companies that joined the scheme in 2008-09 have raised almost £19m in private investment with the Carbon Trust’s support. Dave Raval, head of the Carbon Trust incubation scheme, said that the UK could be a hub for clean technology with solid business investment. “You may have a great technology or service idea but, to make it fly and become a commercial reality, you need a strong business behind you and the know-how to attract investment,” he said.
The Carbon Trust has selected six early-stage business growth consultancies to assist the scheme’s expansion. These companies include Angle Technology, CLT, Conduit Partners, E-Synergy, Isis Innovation and TTP.
The organisation has also set up a network to scout for promising low-carbon technology companies across the UK. The network includes SETIC (East Kilbride), UMIC (Manchester), SETsquared (Bath), Life-IC (Rotherham) and Imperial Innovations (London).
Top scientist honoured for innovation through KTP in the water industry
Dr Son Le, technology development manager for utility giant United Utilities, has been awarded an MBE for services to the water industry.
Dr Le, who came to England at the age of 13 as a Vietnam war orphan, is the world’s leading expert on acid phase anaerobic digestion processes - a form of waste treatment.
Over the past three years, Dr Le was the driving force behind the company’s five innovation projects fostered through KTP. The innovative KTP projects resulted in the development of a number of unique solutions to complex water and wastewater operations. He was educated at Battle, East Sussex under the sponsorship of the Pestalozzi International Village Trust. Dr Le later graduated with an honours degree in Chemical Engineering from Newcastle University and obtained his PhD from The University of Wales Swansea.
His current role as Technology Development Manager at United Utilities involves the evaluation and development of processes for the sustainable treatment of wastewater and recycling of biosolids. He said “There is great scope for knowledge transfer to help UK plc adapt and respond to the need for low-carbon solutions to the environmental challenges we face and to help reduce capital expenditure and running costs.”
Chess Telecom offers new deals to SMEs via the Forum of Private Business (FPB)
Chess Telecom have struck an arrangement unique to FPB members – no rollover contracts and a guarantee of best price.The deal follows complaints from business owners concerned at the poor customer service they receive from other utilities companies. With little notice, many find themselves contractually bound to at least another year with the same provider, often at inflated prices.
Colin Beake, MD of Utility Options, a utilities consultancy, and the FPB’s advisor on energy, said “Most often, only a single letter is sent out and a non-response is taken as a business being complicit. Business owners are extremely busy and, unless notice is given within the specified time to terminate these ‘evergreen’ contracts, utilities companies can just roll them over for a further year or two, sometimes at exorbitant prices. They rarely play fair.”
Norwood Instruments Ltd is a member of the FPB and is based in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire. The company manufactures scientific and medical instruments. Its owner, John Dickinson, believes other utilities companies should be up front about their contracts with customers. “The renewal date is often three or four months before the contract actually ends. You usually receive a letter a few weeks before then to tell you the contract is being renewed and a date up to which you can object or otherwise, but this seems to come out of the blue and catch you unawares,” said Dr Dickinson.
TSB to invest nearly £4m in 18 British SMEs to help start R&D ties with Europe
The British companies will link with partners from 17 different European countries will undertake R&D in areas including biotechnology and healthcare, transport, energy and electronics, with funding from the Technology Strategy Board.
Graham Mobbs, European operations manager at the TSB, said: ‘The Eurostars programme is the first European funding and support programme to be specifically dedicated to small and medium-sized companies. It seeks to overcome one of the major barriers to high-quality transnational research and development led by SMEs – the lack of guaranteed public-sector funding.’
One of the projects to be funded through the Eurostars programme is Maritime Carbon Capture and Storage (Maritime CCS), in which the UK partner is London-based Process Systems Enterprise.
The TSB will invest more than £300,000 in this project, which is aimed at developing and screening alternative designs for carbon capture and storage (CCS) on board ships in transit, investigating the chemical capture of CO2 and its temporary storage until discharge at a port.
The TILACSys (Through-Ice Location and Communication System) is a Eurostars project that will see Wireless Fibre Systems partner with a Norwegian company.
The project, which is to receive nearly £450,000 of TSB investment, will involve the development of a wireless system capable of locating and communicating with autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).
According to the TSB, TILACSys will enable a surface vessel, helicopter or unmanned aerial vehicle to communicate with the AUV through the ice. The system is said to offer major benefits to polar operations in the environmental, oil-and-gas and security sectors.
Yorkshire & Humberside vote to link universities ‘with 500 SMEs’
The £6m initiative aims to link the resources and expertise of the higher education (HE) sector in Yorkshire and Humberwith ‘over 1,000 businesses’, though the likely end-result will assist around 500, say insiders.
University of BradfordSchool of Management and University of Leeds Business School will offer joint provision of high-level management skills to growth orientated SMEs in the Leeds City Region.
Learning and development pathways and learning and development support will be available through unaccredited and accredited executive education. Placements, consultancy and director support will also be available. The project aims to engage with at least 500 SMEs.
The proposal will target individuals, offering IAG through the ‘Higher Futures’ Lifelong Learning Nework, retraining and reskilling through inductions to HE, short courses, bursaries and fee remission. Furthermore, there will be consultancy opportunities for companies at risk and development of entrepreneurialism through work based skills courses.
Contact: Leona Thompson: 0113 3949589 or email
Yorkshire Proof of Commercial Concept Fund designed ‘to create 1,800 startups’
This proof-of-concept scheme, funded by Yorkshire Forward, is encouraging new start-ups and helping to ensure the long-term sustainability of the ventures.
Two new funding streams will contribute to the region’s target of creating 1,800 new start-ups a year: The Proof of Commercial Concept Fund (PCCF) was set up by Yorkshire Forward with an investment of £6m, and provides vital investment in the first stage of the commercialisation of research and knowledge developed within the region’s universities.
In the past, universities in the region have had ample access to R&D and seed-corn funding, but nothing to help commercialise ideas which have already been researched. Now, however, the PCCF provides initial funding to test how robust emerging technologies are, to explore potential market opportunities, and routes to market for those technologies.
The fund offers not just financial help, but also support from a board of experienced business advisers. This is a panel of people who are genuinely interested in seeing technology liberated from academia and transferred to the commercial world. There, it can benefit the local economy by creating new jobs and new businesses, supporting existing businesses through technological development, and creating wealth for the Yorkshire and Humber region.
Windows ‘for less’in Britain
A full copy of the Home Edition of Windows 7 can be pre-ordered in the UK for much less than in the US. British buyers will be able to get Windows 7 for £65 - a big discount on the full retail price and much less than Americans will be paying.
On Amazon.co.uk, a Home Premium version of Windows 7 can be bought at what the site calls a 57 per cent discount. The Professional version is on sale for £149.98, a discount of 32 per cent. In the US, on Amazon.com, the same versions are selling for $199.99 and $299.99.
First product emerges from McLaren – the UK’s latest mainstream car maker
It’s sleek, fast, and a slightly alarming shade of orange, but underneath, it’s pretty green. The first product from McLaren Automotive has the lowest CO2 emissions per horsepower than any other car on the road. Could this represent a renaissance for the British automotive sector?
The McLaren MP4-12C is an impressive package, and unsurprisingly its Formula 1 links shine through. The chassis is a monocoque carbon fibre safety cell. The gearshift is via paddles which can be ‘primed’ so the engine can build up to a gear change at peak power output. The layout is designed to minimise piping and maximise efficiency. And in keeping with racing car philosophy, it’s designed to convert fuel into power with maximum efficiency, giving it that striking emissions ratio —although, with some 600bhp to hand, it will still kick out a sizeable amount of CO2.
The business thinking behind the launch is also striking. Looking ahead to likely budget cuts in F1, McLaren boss Ron Dennis has decided that it will pay to expand outside motorsport, protecting profits and jobs. The company plans to employ some 800 people at a new plant in Woking, alongside the race team’s headquarters.
Plans to produce 4,000 cars per year don’t exactly represent a new volume manufacturer, but it’s still a notable output, and much larger than other specialist high-end car makers such as Noble.
The new McLaren Automotive will become the largest British-owned car maker, and by the time the first cars come off the production line, in 2011, the company expects economic conditions to have improved. So if you have £125,000 to burn and an urge for fast driving, this might be the perfect opportunity to invest in UK industry.
Industrial biotech at Wilton wins £12m for the North East of England
The Department for Business is investing £12m to develop demonstrator facilities for industrial biotechnology (IB) at Wilton in the north east of England.
The government will also provide £2.5m to support companies using the demonstrator facility and match funds from the Technology Strategy Board for new projects related to IB. The facility will build on the capabilities at the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), including the National Industrial Biotechnology Facility (NIBF).
The NIBF has to date been providing vital testing facilities for new industrial biotechnology products and processes, but industry leaders have indicated that facilities are required on a larger scale to ensure the future development of industrial biotechnology in the UK. The new facilities will be tailored to the development and testing of the production of alcohols, biodiesel, low-volume speciality and higher value chemicals from renewable biomass feedstocks and through biocatalysis. One North East has earmarked up to £1.5m to support the day-to-day running of the new site and to help strategic partners in the region access the facilities.
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DSEi 2009 celebrates young SMEs against their Innovation Showcase
The Innovation Showcase at DSEi provides an opportunity for any exhibiting company to present new products, demonstrate new technology and brief visitors to DSEi – the largest UK-based defence products exhibition this year – on its wares. The SMEs concerned, together with its technology, are summarized below:
- Persides Ltd- WCCTV 3G nano for close quarter surveillance
- Systematic Software Engineering Ltd - instant situational awareness in web browser
- Molecular Products- breathable atmospheres in aip and nuclear powered submarines
SCOTTY Group plc- aerial coastal surveillance - the DA 42 MPP SATCOM success
- Zettlex Printed Technologies- new position sensors for harsh environments
- Hypertac- next generation interconnect solutions.
Sir Allen McClay starts ‘McClay Foundation’ - one of the first of its kind in NI
The foundation aims to advance the use of diagnostic tools and drugs in the prevention, control and cure of disease; support and encourage research and innovation in the field of healthcare and allied technologies; increase capacity of all people and specifically those in the developing world to access the latest benefits in healthcare, and to generate and promote employment opportunities for the people of Northern Ireland.
The McClay Foundation and Almac’s chairman Sir Allen McClay will now be the sole shareholders of the Almac Group. The McClay Trust, which has already donated some £20m to charitable causes, including £10m to the new Queen’s University Library, will now fall under the auspices of the McClay Foundation.
Sir Allen McClay said: “I have long recognised the strengths that both industry and academia contribute to the ongoing fight against cancer and many other illnesses. The McClay Foundation will fund projects which harness the energies of these two sectors to advance diagnosis and treatments for the prevention, control and cure of disease.”
The inaugural McClay Foundation Lecture will be delivered at the Queen’s University’s 2nd International Cancer Symposium on Cancer Biology to be held in Belfast, Northern Ireland on the 2nd September, delivered by Professor Alan Ashworth, from the Institute of Cancer Research, London.
SMEs may benefit from recruitment of regional directors in design
British Design Innovation (BDI), the trade body for the strategic design industry in the UK, announced the appointment of four new regional directors to its national board as part of its ongoing Design and Innovation Outreach programme.
Bruce Renfrew of Renfrew Group International, Leicester, has been appointed chairman of BDI East Midlands, Mike Corcoran, founder of Northumberland-based The Product Group, was appointed chairman of BDI North East, Alistair Williamson, managing director of Lucid Group, the Manchester-based innovation, product design and manufacturing consultancy, has taken over as chairman of BDI North West, and Graham Wilson, technical director of Denbighshire company Design Reality, whose experience spans consumer, medical, packaging, commercial and industrial sectors, has been appointed chairman of BDI Wales. “Everyone has ideas about design,” he said. “However, it is the ability to spot opportunities and convert them into highly-explored and feasible products that makes a good designer.”